Consumer loan applications offered through merchants have traditionally been processed by collecting all the data needed to assess the applicant up-front—either through a computer application, a website or on paper. After the application process, loan documents would then need to be filled out (either electronically or manually) and submitted manually via fax or as email attachments. Additional documentation such as identification, void cheques, and invoices also need to be collected and forwarded to the lender before the loan can be approved.
The application process described above would often take 20 minutes or longer for the merchant to complete and then the subsequent final approval process including the assembly of the additional documents could take hours or even days.
There is a need in the art for a system and method that improves processing times of prior art loan approval processes.